Vacationing at Home

So last week my two good friends Sam and Sarah were here to visit, and man did time fly! We packed so much stuff into one week, we were all so exhausted by the time it was over we didnt know where the time had gone.... And I am here to tell you all about it :) 


It was both of their first times in Hawaii so we had to do it up right. The first few days we spent in town checking out local bars and introducing them to some of our friends. We checked out the Kona Brewery for a tour and same tasters. All four of us scooted around on the mopeds....Im sorry sam and sarah you guys need a little more practice hehe, (besides for one minor fall pulling out of a driveway, me and tyler tried to drive most of the time) 
We went cliff jumping at a spot appropriately named "The End of the World" off 15-25 ft cliffs, and we all eventually jumped in, yay sam! My camera literally died in the middle of filming her jump because she was standing on the rocks for like ten minutes! haha


On their fourth day here we rented a car, packed our bags and headed out for a road trip (sounds weird to take a road trip on an Island doesnt it) We headed north on our first day to a place called Waipio Valley. We decided to be "extreme tourists" as I like to call it and hiked EVERYTHING the entire trip! A total of at least 10miles of hiking over the course of our trip. And we are SOOO glad we started with the hardest one first! The hike down and back up to Waipio Valley is paved at a 25% grade so you have to have a 4wheel drive to get in! (which we did not, the rental car place did though upgrade us to a Dodge Charger :) we were drivin in style) 

<------ Check out that hike!!  Talk about a butt workout! But it was all worth it in the end. The valley is so serene and beautiful. We saw the tallest waterfall in Hawaii and an awesome black sand beach. We could have hitched a ride back up, but honestly we were all glad we did it! It was a great accomplishment!




                  
We were all exhausted after that, and made the drive over to Hilo, the biggest "city" on the big Island on the east side. Our next adventure was to drive up to the top of Mauna Kea for the sunrise. So instead of doing the smart thing and finding a place to crash for a few hours, we decided to save some money and sleep in the car, since we would have to be up super early anyway. Ha ha ha that was a nightmare, no one could sleep so we ended up just driving up the mountain at 2 in the morning and trying to sleep up there. The problem being after driving to the summit we were at about 13,700 ft ! So it was a little hard to breath. I have never experience that feeling before, taking a really deep breath and feeling like you arent getting any air, a really creepy experience that I could see would freak certain people out. Since we were up there before the sun came up we could see ALL the stars, and oh my god I never knew the naked eye could see the amount of stars I saw that night, I was literally enveloped by the universe. I wish I could have just laid out on the ground and looked up all night. But besides the high altitude it was 27 degrees out! So needless to say we were all hunkered down in the car. As the sun rose we all managed to get out of the car wrapped in comforters and watch the miracle that is the birth of each new day. I can honestly say that experience was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Above all the clouds you feel like you are in heaven, I could reach out and touch the sun.  

At the summit where the largest telescopes in the world are. 

SNOW IN HAWAII 

                                                                           Needless to say, I will definitely be going back up there before we leave. Since there is snow at the summit people actually do snowboard up there! But there aren't any lifts so you would have to hike it all and its super icy, not too appealing coming from the fresh powder at Mt. Hood. (which I really miss this season!)   

So after our trek up and back down the mountain, we headed back to Hilo where we spent the day checking out some waterfalls. We tried hand shaved ice for the first time, sooo much better then snow cones! This guy actually grinded down a huge block of ice on this old time machine with a hang crank that spun the ice block around ( i really want one now hehe) We checked into our hostel we would be staying in that night (everyone else's first time in a Hostel, Im pretty sure it won them over) I dont know why hostels get such a bad rap, they are really the way to go when traveling. Its a super social environment and you meet people who are doing the same thing you are, so you can exchange stories and suggestions, and the staff is so friendly and well informed. Plus you have access to a full kitchen and laundry, something you wont find at a hotel, at a steal of a price, we only paid 27 bucks per person for a private room. 

So that night we headed out to the volcano. At the volcano national park you can drive you car down as far as the road will take you. Then you hit old lava flows that have literally covered the road! The pavement just ends and you have to hike in from there. We hiked in a mile or two and ran into a couple hiking back out and found out that the lava flow was actually starting to solidify and that it was at least another couple miles in. So we decided to ditch that idea and head up the the Museum where you can see an active steam vent only a few hundred yards away!

Pretty sweet if you ask me, you could see the glowing orange from inside where the lava is! But one of these trips were going to see the dang lava flow! Possibly when my parents come to visit :) 

It was nice to sleep in an actual bed that night at the Hostel! 

The next morning we set out South. Making our way to South Point and hiking into Green Sand Beach! One of only two green sand beaches. Something to do with the minerals in the rock formations, there are actual gemstones in the sand and it sparkles an olive green! It was about a 2 mile hike in, but a really pretty hike! We spent some time playing in the water and watching Tyler cliff jump off a 30ft cliff! And managed to steel some green sand, despite the 500 dollar fine signs for taking sand :) 

See that furthest outcropping of the cliff on the right side of the picture, thats what Tyler jumped off!

By the time we got home we were all pooped! Two more days of relaxing on the beach and going out for a nice dinner and the adventures were over before they had begun. It was really nice having some familiar faces around and to be able to play tour guide for a week! But I have to say it was a tight squeeze having all us girls in my bed, and it was nice to get back to cuddling with Tyler! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

 What a wonderful week it has been! My first Christmas and birthday away from home was not nearly as sad as I thought it would be, it was actually really nice spending lots of quality time with Tyler and skyping with the family. We spent Christmas morning opening all our wonderful gifts our family had sent us, Tyler and I got camelbacks from his mom, I got an underwater video camera from my parents and Tyler got a tool set (finally he can start fixing some stuff around here!) Tyler made me a sign for our house! He actually woodburned it himself and put a little turtle on it to represent Hawaii, everywhere we go we will take it with us and add to it :)  He also got me games so we can have people over for game nights and a really pretty koa wood and ivory necklace :)   So of course I had to get him the most manly and dangerous gift, a spear gun! haha  Its actually a really big sport over here, a lot of our friends do it, you dont even need a license! Just go out in the ocean and catch me some dinner! :)  

After all the gift giving we spent the rest of the day watching christmas movies and drinking eggnog :) 

We also decided to make our first Turkey! As you very well know, we dont have an oven, just our little table top convection/toaster oven. To put it in a nutshell, it was a very funny process and took some mad skills to cook that turkey! I made homemade stuffing (which was literally the best I have ever had, thank you very much) :)  And then we stuffed our little bird, and made mashed potatoes and gravy! One of the bast Christmas dinners ever (ALMOST as good as grandmas!) We have sooo many leftovers though! We boiled the turkey carcass and have enough stock to make turkey soup, my favorite! And Tyler has already made lots of gravy, who knew, he is actually a pretty good cook ;) 

 All in all it was very very nice :) Four days later it was my birthday! Yay I love getting spoiled all week long :) Its like the fun just never stops! haha On the actual day of my birthday Tyler took me out to Huggos ( a really nice place on the water I have been wanting to check out) for pupus and dessert.  The next night we went out on the Body Glove cocktail cruise!  It was very nice, free drinks and appetizers while watching the sunset. We met some pretty cool people on the boat, and had a great time! 

And now its new years eve! We both work tonight, but should be off around ten. Not quite sure what the plan is, a lot of places are having new years eve parties and Im pretty sure the town sets off fireworks over the water, so Im sure we will find something fun to do! 

In other news, two of my best girlfriends Sam and Sarah are coming to visit in 2 days!! AHHH Im so excited you dont even know! Its going to be so nice just to see faces from home!  I took the week off work so we can spend as much time all together as possible! Im hoping our little apartment can comfortably fit us all! I think the three of us girls are going to try and fit in the bed and we will just kick tyler to the couch :) haha We have about 1 plate and 1 glass per person haha  Its going to be tight, but who cares, its going to be great! We plan on cramming a lot of activities in in one week. I think we will rent a car for a couple days to go around the Island. We did buy a second scooter that can hold two people, so the four of us can all scoot around town :)  Tune in next week to hear about all our adventures! 

XOXOX  Laur

Tis The Season..

..To be Jolly?
I have to say I am very thankful to be able to say Im having a Hawaiian Christmas, but i cant lie in also saying I wish we were home for the Holidays. I know how much I can complain about the wet, cold weather of Oregon, but I do miss bundling up and warm hot chocolates and SNOWBOARDING and...mostly spending time with family. But this is just one year out of the many many christmases I will enjoy and im going to make the most of what we do have to celebrate.
So, today was the day we (Tyler) picked up all the christmas gifts our wonderful family sent us! And I have to say, Im still a kid at heart and always will be on Christmas, I CANT WAIT TO OPEN GIFTS! haha its just so exciting :) And our new tree just looks so complete with all the gifts underneath now.
So, in Hawaii I guess you have to be quick to get things, especially on Christmas. Because once they run out, it takes a little while to ship in new merchandise. Our tree for example (from Oregon it said on the tag) was pretty spendy for a LOT TREE (no U-cuts here :(  all the smaller ones were sold out so we had to get a bigger more expensive one and have them cut it down a bit. And I swear we got the last Christmas tree stand on the Island! We went three places and finally I got the last one at Target!  But after all was said and done, it looks great! Tyler managed to set it up by himself (and it wasnt even crooked!) and we decorated it with a wine bottle tree topper and random knick-knacks from around the house :)   We weren't about to spend a fortune on ornaments! But i think its perfect! my first reaction is "oh shoot we dont have enough lights to cover the whole tree, and we HAVE to go get ornaments and a topper for it" But Tyler calmed my irrational and unnecessary stress and made me realize things dont always have to be traditional or "perfect" We made it our own, and in the spirit of Christmas it feels more like "us" than any store bought decorations could have made it.

xoxoxoxo

In other news, we went to our first Hawaiian movie, Sherlock Holmes 2 last night. Really the only difference from going to the movies in Oregon and going in Hawaii is they greet you with Aloha! not Hola!  :) oh, and you get to butter your own popcorn :) thats pretty sweet! 

Also, I know I have talked about the fruit here, but I bought my first avocado the other day and I just HAD to take a picture of it! That thing could feed a small village for a week! Crazy Big! 

This week we are getting a second moped! Going to be very very nice to be able to have a little more independence from each other ;)  Tyler wont have to get up and drive me to work early and I wont have to wait for his ass to get off work to go pick him up! Also, in the budget this month was a Kayak! It was on sale at Sports Authority for 300. Which was actually a lot cheeper than the USED Kayaks we were looking at! Its a great brand and can seat 3 people! We still need to buy one more paddle and hopefully take it out this week! We are banking on being able to cary it across the street and dock it right there in the ocean, hopefully that all works out ;) Keep you posted on the Kayak adventures! But we are definitely going to be bringing it home with us too, take that bad boy out on the Columbia or the Willamette!

our new baby fresh out of the bubble wrap :)

Well its about dinner time, going to see what I can whip up :)  Until next time, Merry Christmas! or should I say Mele Kalikimaka   :)

Meeting people and living life

Well, it seems like we have finally gotten to a point where we have established a name for ourselves in Kona. I've realized it takes a lot of effort to put yourself out there, make new friends and create a place for yourself in a town where you once did not exist. Just by simply staring conversation with anyone and everyone you meet, you would be AMAZED by the stories you hear, the relationships you start, and just how connected we all really are to each other. We have made friends with a bartender who is a scuba instructor who is going to certify us and he is also a pilot and said he could fly us to any island we want to go to! Being a bartender, all I do is talk to people all day, I have met flight attendants, cruise ship workers, a famous chef who cooks for celebrities, people who have told me about all the hidden treasurers Hawaii has to offer that I would never have read in a guide book, and the list goes on. That is one of the reasons I love my job and why I will never stop working with and around people, everyone has so much to offer, you just have to start talking. And it makes me sad thinking how American society has become so self involved and timed around strangers. Most people live in fear and keep to themselves on a daily basis. Sitting on the max even, and looking around everyone is clutching their bags and looking forward at all times. If someone so much as starts up a conversation we assume they are a creep and respond in short non-inviting one liners. Imagine if we just said hi to everyone we came in contact with? Who knows who you could meet, the opportunities you could come into, the lasting friendships you could make. The world would be better off for all of us if we just broke out of our shell once in a while. Because really, its all about who you know.

Ok so enough of all my philosophy :)  I haven't wrote in a while, so thanksgiving was really great. A couple from my old job at Persimmon, who were members that I had known for almost two years, happened to be staying on the Big Island for Thanksgiving and had invited us to have dinner with their family. They have three kids who are all around our age and their boyfriend/husband who were all on vacation with them, so it was a pretty big group of people. They were so hospitable to us, made us drinks all night and fed us a giant meal of lobster tails and steak! So all in all it was a great way to spend the holiday even though we were missing our family. 

Tyler and I have both been working a lot, which is bitter sweet. We both love our jobs and are making good money, but at the same time I didn't just move here to work, I want to be able to explore as much of the Island as I can. With that being said I think I might drop down to working only 3 or 4 days/week instead of 5. 

A lot of things we want to try, though, we are waiting till friends and family visit to do them, because we know they will want to do them anyway. Things like the manta ray night dives, zip-lining, helicopter tours over the volcano, going to a Luau, driving to the top of Mauna Kea to watch the sunrise, ect. are all things I know we will do, but were waiting to share them with all our visitors! 

We did rent a Kayak the other day though :) It was awesome, I really want to get one now, we are searching craigslist to find a good deal. I would love to start kayaking and get good at paddling so we can cruise down the coast and find hidden beaches that you cant get to by foot. That and another Moped are in our near buying future :) 

My city at dusk :) 

I have been buying and trying lots of new fruits. Custard apples are really strange. Spiny and green on the outside, and soft white fleshy fruit on the inside. I get fresh pineapples all the time and make smoothies out of them. Also I have got mangoes and Mamey Sapote, which is this picture i found. They are a almost carmel sweet taste, I have tried this fruit when I was in Australia as well. 

 

And I also got a raw coconut the other day! We poked a hole for the milk to come out (which actually does not taste as good as I thought, does anyone know what you can do with the milk? ) and then Tyler cracked it open with a hammer! The actual meat was ok, still not as good as I thought, but im basing my love of coconut flavor on pina coladas and coconut cream pies :) 

Anywho, everything else is going great, we've made some awesome friends we go out with quite often, we know our way around good, and learn something new everyday. The weather is mid 80's everyday mostly blue skys and lovely.  :)    Well until next time........

The end of another amazing day with my love

Dinner... and other things

 So I am about to tell you about the most exceptional dinner I have ever had under the most improv cooking. Seriously, me and Tyler want to write a book on improv and low budget cooking, we did not have a lot to work with here! So we made chicken cordon blues with grilled asparagus and a dinner roll. See the assembly line goin on on all of our counter space, haha As you can see we dont have a meat tenderizer or plastic wrap, so im beating the chicken with a hammer in a plastic bag :) also we didnt have tooth pics to pin together the stuffed chicken so tyler found some inscence sticks and broke off the wood ends to stick in the chicken! We then browned them on our hot plate, and transfered them into our Toaster Oven! haha

anyway, as you can see it all turned out very good, best meal we have made yet! Notice the Naked Winery bottle we had :) complements to my mom for shipping our bottle we got in Hood River over to us :)

In other news, so the only craft/art supply store over here is ace Hardware which has a craft section, boo They dont carry my paint I use (golden acrylics) and the canvases are super expensive! And this is the ONLY art store in Kona! So, the universe came together and devised a plan for my predicament. There happens to be this guy at the market who sells slices of beautiful Koa wood. So we got to talking and he is going to start giving me the wood for free, and let me sand it, and then I will in turn paint on the wood and then he will take it back and sell it for me at the market! perfect collaboration! So I was down at the market getting a piece of wood and this lady was buying a really nice $50 piece of wood for her husbands workshop to make a sign. And we got to talking and she is going to commission me to paint and or/woodburn a sign out of the wood :) So i went out and got a wood burner also to work on projects and paintings :) 

The other day i bought a blender for 5 bucks at our Kona salvation army :) (yes we are very thrifty) now we can start making tropical fruit smoothies, yumm Tyler made a passionfruit smoothie today :)

We are looking into getting some Kayaks :) I was talking to this huge outdoorsman at my work who was telling me all about how he Kayaks all along the Hawaiian coast finding amazing beaches that are impossible to get to by foot and havent been touched in probably months! plus since we live right across form the ocean we could just load it in right there! So that is a really exciting prospect! :) Samantha and Sarah are coming to visit in less than 2 months! So So excited to see me friends! That really has been the hardest part about living over here, is missing all my friends :(  

But we do have someone to celebrate Thanksgiving with! So my friends Dale and Sandi Johnson from persimmon at home, just happen to be vacationing near Kona with their kids who are all our age and they invited us to their vacation home for Thanksgiving dinner! So awesome! 

Well Tyler has been downloading movies like crazy and I think we are finally going to watch one, I just had to talk about our dinner adventures :) 

LOVES

LAUR

Realization

Its about 10:15am on monday, and I'm just layin on the couch havin a cup of coffee. Tyler is still sleeping :) I start my first day of bartending on my own today! cant wait to start making tips again :) Its awesome, cuz at my restaurant, there is always only one bartender working, so i basically get to run the show and do what I please.  I might go out to the beach today and work on my tan a little more before work, but its going to be just a relaxing day today :)  Our little apt. is almost all decorated, thanks mom for shipping over MORE stuff, haha. But i have realized that wow, you dont need so much "stuff" in your life to be truly happy. I had this same realization when I went to Australia. I only wore a weeks worth of clothes for 6weeks, and even here, having a full closet, Im regretting bringing so many clothes. I wear shorts and a tank top everyday for gods sake, haha!
So, a few more things i have realized: I have a new found love for Sushi! There is this little hole in the wall Sushi place in town that is absolutely Amazing! California rolls, tuna rolls, and spicy salmon rolls are my favorite so far. They make them fresh, right there in front of you and all the fish is fresh caught of course :)
I love seeing new things and simply finding something by following a map! So the 2nd-4th Tyler's mom and her boyfriend were here to visit us and we drove around the whole island, and I got to be Navigator :) I know bad idea right, I barely know right from left! But actually navigating an Island is WAY easier, I mean there is only so far you can go :)   To put it in a nutshell, we were extreme tourists! and crammed A LOT into two days of exploring! The first day we drove down to the volcano, hiked though old lava flows and though a lava tube. We didnt actually get to see lava flowing which was a bummer because where it is flowing there is no road to get there. So you have to hike in really far OR what I really want to do next time is you go out on a tour boat where they motor you out to right where the lava is flowing into the ocean!

inside the lava tube

Next we drove into Hilo, where we got soaked! Rains about 300 in. a year there! But the cool thing is that you are in a tropical rainforest! There we got to see some amazing waterfalls and drive though some of the coolest scenery I have ever seen. The houses in Hilo all have metal roofs and most are on stilts. But most of the houses are SO run down, its weird to think people actually live in them. Im guessing all that rain takes a big toll on your house. Lets just say im glad we moved to the west side of the Island, Hilo reminded me a little to much of OR :)

rainbow falls

The next day we drove north to the most northern point of the Island and down to one of the most amazing and scenic beaches I've ever seen. The road stops at a lookout at Pololu Beach, where you can see the entire valley where the national forest starts and a black sand beach 500ft below! So we walked about a mile down this trail to get to the beach. The sand was so fine, it felt like silk, so so beautiful.

After two long and fun days on the road, I realized something else: I dont think its possible to get Island fever on the Big Island! OMG driving around the Island made me realized just how BIG it is! I have a new respect for the island! We saw a lot but not even close to everything there is to see. I dont think we could see ALL of the island in a year if we tried! It took almost 3 hours just to get to the other side, we put over 300miles on the rental car! Where as on say Oahu its only 30miles wide. You can fit all the other Islands Twice inside the big Island! We are about the size of Connecticut! But our population is only 185,000 (Ohau is 953,000!!) Also, we have the largest telescope in the WORLD on our island. Hawaii is one of the most remote places on earth, so we have the least amount of light pollution, which means AMAZING views of the stars! :) We also have the tallest Mt in the world (Mauna Kea) And another fun fact: The Big Island holds 11 of the 13 different climates that exist in the whole world!  So all in all, I love it here, im so glad we chose the big Island, there is SO much to do and see here!   

Now that we are both working and starting to make money, our next adventure is to get certified to scuba dive! And also to start Island hopping and seeing all the other Islands! 

Well thats it for now, 

Laur

We're officially "Locals" :)

So its weird, after spending a day at the beach saying to Tyler, "ready to go home" and actually feeling like wow this is home now.  I do still refer to my "old" home as home but its defiantly starting to finally set in that this is our new home. We got our Hawaii IDs so we are officially locals! and can get "kama'aina" which is the Hawaiian term for local discounts on anything from hopper flights to all sorts of activities and restaurants. 

ALSO, newest update, I GOT A JOB! I am now a bartender at Splashers bar and Grill!  I literally just walked in, talked to the GM and they just happened to need a new bartender and hired me on the spot! I had a working interview, which I passed and now am in training for a couple more days. Splashers is right at the beginning of the strip right across the street from the ocean. Its on the second story and an open air restaurant, so I get to look out at the water all day and see dolphins jumping and whales breaching this winter! So amazing, I had an epiphany yesterday while working that went a little like this.. Oh my god I got exactly the job I was looking for with almost no effort, bar tending in paradise, this isnt work, I love life right now! Everyone I work with is awesome, so making new friends wont be hard at all. 


We went out after I got off work yesterday for Halloween and it felt like home. On Halloween this little town explodes and people know how to party. We went to this bar called Humpys, they had a live band, dancing and costume contests, it was awesome! I had missed dancing in Portland, and im so glad that scene exists here as well, if not just a bit smaller :) 

So just an update on visitors:  We have visitors the beginning and end of January. My parents are coming to visit the 6th of February, as well as Tyler's friend Chris on the same day! He is staying 2 weeks so he can celebrate Tylers 25th birthday with us on the 18th. So please if you are coming to visit us call first before you book your flight! I really hope as many of ours friends and family can make it over here as possible, it really is beautiful and there is A LOT to do. And we have a good amount of space in our place to sleep people, so that is a big cut in cost not having to pay for hotel stay!  
Also we have set up a mailbox to get mail, this is different from our home address since we dont have a mailbox at our apt.  So please please write us!  


74-5540 Kaiwi St.
PMB #390
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

love you all,

laur